Cabin Crew

Fatigue among cabin crew is no longer a hidden issue. It is a widespread, systemic problem that is undermining safety, damaging health, and eroding the sustainability of aviation jobs. A new global survey of 114 cabin crew union representatives from 45 airlines, conducted by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), makes it clear: fatigue is a daily reality for cabin crew, and airlines are not taking it seriously enough.

ETF stands in solidarity with the German Ryanair network, which bravely decided to establish a workers’ representation in one of the strongest anti-union companies in the world.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation, the European Trade Union Confederation, the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive, and the European Cabin Crew Association call for the immediate implementation of the first European standards on cabin air quality on civil aircraft.

Proud of our Polish aviation affiliate, TOZPliN, for the successful trade union information campaign organised for LOT Polish Airlines pilots and cabin crew, despite all the obstacles on the way!

The aviation industry needs an ambitious decarbonisation plan with people at its centre. ETF lays out key principles in its sustainable aviation vision.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been saying that a lack of available staff would be an issue in the aviation sector, and finally, it has arrived. "The industry is very much reaping what it has sown", believes ETF Civil Aviation President Oliver Richardson.

The Belgian cabin crew working for the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair are on strike from today until the 24th of April, after the negotiations with Ryanair management on a new collective agreement on wages have miserably failed.

It seems to be the same old story that inevitably goes back again and again to the low-cost Hungarian carrier Wizz Air. Just this time, its actions are outrageous as they are directly linked to the war in Ukraine.

A transcript of a secret Wizz Air management meeting from 4 April 2020 which was leaked to staff has been passed to the ETF, revealing that management saw the COVID-19 crisis as the opportunity to "clean up the airline" by using discriminatory and anti-worker criteria in deciding which pilots to dismiss.